NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Plum Pox Virus Commercial Orchard Fruit Tree Indemnity Program
[33 Pa.B. 1949] The Department of Agriculture (Department) hereby revises the procedures and requirements under which it awards grants under the Plum Pox Virus Commercial Orchard Fruit Tree Indemnity Program (program). These procedures and requirements were originally established by a notice published at 30 Pa.B. 4014 (August 5, 2000). The original program provided a formula and mechanism by which the Department could award a reimbursement grant to compensate the owner of a commercial stone fruit orchard for a portion of the economic losses resulting from a Department-issued order to destroy and remove stone fruit trees from the orchard and refrain from replanting stone fruit trees for at least 3 years. In summary, this revision to the program: (1) acknowledges it may be necessary, in some instances, to maintain the current replanting ban for at least 2 additional years; and (2) establishes a formula and mechanism for providing partial compensation for economic losses attributable to the 4th and 5th years of this replanting ban. This notice also restates statutory authority and provides background information.
Authority
Section 208 of the General Appropriation Act of 2002 (act of June 29, 2002) (P. L. ____ , No. 7a) appropriates the sum of $3.1 million to the Department for fruit tree indemnity payments related to the Plum Pox Virus (PPV) and costs related to disease eradication and other prevention and control measures.
Background
PPV is a serious plant pest that injures and damages stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, cherries, plums and apricots by drastically reducing the fruit yields from these stone fruit trees and by disfiguring the fruit to the point it is unmarketable. PPV has the potential to cause serious damage to the stone fruit production and stone fruit nursery industries within this Commonwealth. PPV is transmitted from infected trees by aphids and by budding or grafting with PPV-infected plant material. There is no known control for PPV other than the destruction of infected trees. PPV is not known to exist anywhere in the United States except in parts of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York Counties.
The Plant Pest Act (act) (3 P. S. §§ 258.1--258.27) provides the Department broad authority with respect to the identification, containment and eradication of plant pests in this Commonwealth. The Department has--under authority of the act--established PPV-related quarantines in parts of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York Counties. There are a number of commercial stone fruit production orchards within the quarantined area. Where PPV has been detected in a commercial stone fruit orchard, or where the orchard is near a location where PPV is known to be present, the Department has ordered the destruction and removal of the stone fruit trees and prohibited replanting of stone fruit trees until the quarantine is rescinded. Initially, both the Department and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) felt the quarantine could be lifted following a 3-year stone fruit replanting ban within the quarantined area. It is now apparent the replanting ban needs to remain in effect for at least 2 additional years.
The objective of the program is to provide owners of affected commercial stone fruit production orchards reimbursement grants of 15% of the economic losses they sustain as a result of the destruction of stone fruit trees as part of the Department's PPV eradication effort. The program complements a similar initiative of the USDA to reimburse these owners 85% of these losses. The Department and the USDA use the same economic calculations in determining the value of destroyed trees and lost crop production. The following economic loss calculations expressed are the same as shall be used in a forthcoming revision to the USDA's reimbursement criteria. In combination, the program and its Federal counterpart seek to reimburse affected commercial stone fruit orchard owners 100% of the calculated amount of economic losses resultant from the removal and destruction of affected stone fruit orchards.
The Program's reimbursement formula assumes that affected commercial stone fruit orchards cannot be replanted with stone fruit trees for 3 years after destruction and removal of the trees at the order of the Department. When the Department detects PPV near a location where stone fruit trees have earlier been destroyed and removed by order of the Department, the starting point of the 3-year ban on replanting for both the site of the most recent detection and the site where stone fruit trees have already been removed must be reset. The initial destruction of PPV-infected orchards occurred in Spring 2000. The most recent detections occurred in 2002. This compels the Department to continue the current replanting ban for at least 2 additional years.
Revised Reimbursement Formula
The Program's original reimbursement formula only allowed for reimbursement of 3 years' lost production. This revision supplements that formula by providing a calculation of the values of an additional 1 or 2 years of economic losses. The values are as follows:
1. If commercial stone fruit trees (any species, any age) are destroyed and removed by order of the Department and stone fruit trees cannot be replanted for 4 years from removal, the value of economic loss between the third and fourth years is $974 per acre. The Department may pay up to $146.10 (15% of the $974 per acre sum) with respect to every acre of affected stone fruit production.
2. If commercial stone fruit trees (any species, any age) are destroyed and removed by order of the Department and stone fruit trees cannot be replanted for 5 years from removal, the value of economic loss between the 3rd and 5th year is $1,840 per acre ($974 per acre between the 3rd and 4th years, plus $866 per acre between the 4th and 5th years). The Department may pay up to $276 (15% of the $1,840 per acre sum) with respect to every acre of affected stone fruit production. Of this $276 per acre cap, $146.10 is 15% of economic loss between the 3rd and 4th years and $129.90 is 15% of economic loss between the 4th and 5th years.
A person who has previously received partial reimbursement of economic losses from the Department under the program, or a successor owner of the affected orchard, may apply to the Department for partial reimbursement of economic losses relating to the 4th and 5th years of the ban on the replanting of stone fruit trees in the quarantined area. As stated, the Department's maximum payment with respect to affected stone fruit acreage is $146.10 per acre if replanting is prohibited for 4 years and $276 per acre if replanting is prohibited for 5 years. An owner may elect to receive reimbursement 1 year at a time rather than applying to receive the entire 2-year reimbursement in a single payment.
Obtaining an Application
A person seeking a reimbursement grant under the program for economic losses sustained by virtue of the Department extending a stone fruit replanting ban from 3 years to 4 or 5 years shall apply for the grant using a reimbursement grant application/agreement form provided by the Department. The forms may be obtained through the following contact person.
Contents of Application
An application for a reimbursement grant for economic losses relating to the 4 or 5 years of a Department-ordered stone fruit replanting ban will require the following information of an applicant:
1. The name, address and Federal tax identification number (or Social Security number) of the applicant.
2. Verification that the applicant is an owner of the destroyed stone fruit orchard.
3. A listing of the block numbers of the destroyed stone fruit orchard with respect to which a grant is sought.
4. The stone fruit tree acreage figures described in (3).
5. A signature acknowledging that representations made in the application are true and further acknowledging that the criminal punishments and penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 (relating to unsworn falsification to authorities) apply to any false statement made in the application.
Review of Applications
The Department will review and approve or disapprove any complete, timely grant application within 30 days of receipt. The Department will stamp or otherwise identify each grant application to record the date and the order in which these applications are received. The Department will consider grant applications in the order they are received. The Department will approve a grant application if all of the following criteria are met:
1. The application is complete and provides the Department all the information necessary to a reasoned review of the document.
2. There are sufficient unencumbered funds available from the $3.1 million appropriation contained in the Appropriation Act of 2002 to fund the grant amount sought in the reimbursement grant application.
Notice of Decision
The Department will, within 10 days of completing its review, inform (whether by mail or other means) a grant applicant of whether the grant application is approved or disapproved. If the application is disapproved, the written notice will specify the basis for disapproval.
Expiration of Appropriation
Any portion of the $3.1 million appropriation funding the Program that is not used by June 30, 2003, shall lapse into the General Fund. If a grant application is not approved by the Department by that date, it shall be disapproved on the basis that funding has lapsed.
No Right or Entitlement to Funds
The appropriation of funds under the General Appropriation Act of 2002 does not create in any person a right or entitlement to a grant from these funds. Departmental approval of a grant application is the event that establishes entitlement of the applicant to the grant funds sought, provided appropriated funds are available in an amount adequate to fund the grant.
Additional Information/Contact Person
Applications and further information can be obtained by contacting the Department of Agriculture, Attn: Lyle B. Forer, Director, Bureau of Plant Industry, 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408, (717) 772-5203.
DENNIS C. WOLFF,
Acting Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 03-709. Filed for public inspection April 18, 2003, 9:00 a.m.]
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